July 6, 2005 pt1 – Osaka Aquarium

Osaka Aquarium

Despite a very long day of walking yesterday, I woke up refreshed after a good night’s sleep in my hotel bed. I have been sleeping on a futon so long, that I forgot how amazing it is to sleep in a bed.

I ate breakfast and checked out of the hotel, then walked to the subway station. My destination was Osakako station. In this case the “ko” means port. The Osaka port area has several attractions, the biggest and most impressive being Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. The aquarium is one of the largest in the world.

Visitors enter at at ground level, then take an elevator to the top of the structure. There are tanks featuring aqua life of all kinds from different regions of the world, all in separate tanks. The tanks are arranged around the outside of the building, allowing visitors to spiral downward to see the same areas at lower and lower depths. In the center of the structure is a huge tank featuring a 12 meter long whale shark. The lowest levels of the aquarium feature special tanks that include giant crabs and jellyfish.

Osaka aquarium is a world class facility that should be on everyone’s must do in Osaka list. Aside from the wide array of aquatic life from around the world, the most interesting part of the experience was the people. Most of the gaijins in the building (no, I wasn’t the only one), were busy taking pictures of the fish and reading the information. The Japanese people, especially the children, were making several comments that everything looked delicious. Note to entrepreneurs: open a sushi restaurant right outside the exit of Osaka Aquarium. It’s guaranteed to succeed.